Meta's Muse AI agent draws fresh scrutiny over data collection and trust
A month after its launch, reports and commentators say Muse's deep account access — including profiles of people who never used it — raises data-privacy risks.
Part of a larger narrative
Meta's Muse AI Agent Crisis
- Meta launches Muse Wonder AI models, claims parity with GPT-6 and Claude
- Meta's Muse AI agent draws fresh scrutiny over data collection and trustyou are here
- Meta expands Muse AI agent with a small-business version
- Meta's Muse AI agent leaks user data, exposes home address to stranger
What to know
- Muse, launched September 8, is Meta's autonomous AI agent that can act on users' behalf across emails, purchases, and account logins, requiring deep permission access and a persistent cloud virtual machine per user.
- A previously patched zero-day macOS vulnerability let malware hijack the assistant's privileges, and a user reported Muse disclosed his home address to a Marketplace buyer without his full understanding.
- Recent reporting (Mashable, Tom's Guide) says Muse builds data files on friends and family of users even when those third parties never used the app themselves.
- Despite the concerns, Muse reportedly reached the No.1 spot on Apple's App Store, underscoring a gap between adoption and expressed distrust.
The dispute Whether Muse's convenience justifies the privacy trade-off, given it is simultaneously the top App Store download and the subject of mounting distrust. · positions read across 44 posts and comments
Meta's track record on data makes Muse's level of access inherently untrustworthy.
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“Okay Mark. 🤥 Muse might look like an amazing AI assistant - BUT - knowing that Meta makes huge profits off collecting your data & its history with unethical practices, can you actually trust the tech giant with access to every aspect of…”
Tutanota · Mastodon ↗
Users underestimate how much permission they grant the agent, leading to real harm like unwanted data disclosure.
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“Matt.j.robb shared his experience of Muse handling his FaceBook Marketplace which led to it sending a buyer his home address.”
Tutanota (citing Matt.j.robb) · Mastodon ↗
Mass adoption shows many users are willing to accept the risk, possibly without fully weighing it.
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“its currently the No.1 download of Apple's App Store... for many users of Facebook the answer is likely a relatively causal 'yes'”
ChrisMayLA6 · Mastodon ↗
Meta Developer of Muse
Mark Zuckerberg Meta CEOAlaina Yee PCWorld tech editorAndrew Grush Android Authority columnistMatt.j.robb Muse user (cited in Tuta report)
How it unfolded 6 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Tom's Guide confirms Muse profiles non-users' friends and family
A follow-up investigation found Muse can build detailed profiles of a user's contacts even when those people have never interacted with the AI agent themselves.
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2 outlets first by WIRED, 10d ago · also The Independent · read ↗
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first by Tom's Guide, 7d ago
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I continue to believe that Meta is the company that is building products I want from a company I have absolutely zero desire to do business with. I put Google in the same category - I used to be a google fanboy, but that subsided over the years as Google grew and killed products I used and liked. Now I only use their products because of inertia…
2 more of the top 3 · 28 posts in this stretch
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It's a good thing you have nothing to hide because Meta will use all of it against you even if you're not using its spy bot. If you don't care about your own privacy, maybe consider that of the people who are connected to you and those you love. "Each hour, Muse updates its dossiers on you and the people you’ve mentioned in chats, messages, and…
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I’m pretty frustrated with Muse and the last thing I want to be doing with my free time is defending Meta, but this is such clickbait.Point by point:> “OMG you can jailbreak it and get it to spill its VM”This is the whole point; any content on the VM is yours. It runs in an isolated sandboxed VM separate from stored credentials etc; this is…
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Report says Muse keeps files on people who never used it
Mashable reported that Muse builds and retains records on the friends and family members of its users, extending its data footprint beyond people who consented to use the app.
“Two people can keep a secret if one is dead, or so goes the saying. But what happens when you share the details of your life with an AI agent?”
— Alaina Yee, tech editor, PCWorld · source -
first by Mashable, 8d ago
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Meta wants everyone to use its AI agent Muse. But should you trust it with your personal data? For one tech editor, the answer is no. At least not yet. “Two people can keep a secret if one is dead, or so goes the saying,” Alaina Yee writes. “But what happens when you share the details of your life with an AI agent?” Read more from @ PCWorld…
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PCWorld editor says she wouldn't trust Muse with her data yet
In PCWorld's Safe Mode security newsletter, editor Alaina Yee argued that sharing personal details with an AI agent is riskier than sharing a secret with a person, since data persists and can be misused.
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1 outlet first by PCWorld, 8d ago · read ↗
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Discover how the Meta Muse AI assistant creates detailed social profiles of your friends and family to offer highly personalized relationship advice. # MetaMuse # AIAssistant # DataPrivacy # ArtificialIntelligence # TechNews https:// dailytechnow.com/meta-muse-ai- assistant-profiles/
1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
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Read the full story and subscribe here: https://www. wired.com/story/muse-creates-d etailed-profiles-of-all-your-friends-and-family/
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Muse becomes the No.1 app on Apple's App Store
A commentator noted Muse's rapid adoption a month after launch, reigniting the question of whether users should trust Meta with the personal data the agent requires to operate.
“The Q. as John Naughton/Obseever (suggests) is: do you trust Meta with all that data?”
— ChrisMayLA6 -
first by Mastodon, 7d ago · also Time
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A month ago Meta launched Muse an 'agent' that accesses your personal data so it can do the tasks you cannot be bothered (or perhaps don't have time) to do... its currently the No.1 download of Apple's App Store. The Q. as John Naughton/Obseever (suggests) is: do you trust Meta with all that data? (for many users of Facebook the answer is likely a…
2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch
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Meta has enabled Muse to build extensive and ever-growing profiles on the orbit of people in a user's life. Based on user input but also “publicly available information.” Whether that means a web search, Facebook's own extensive data, or buying data broker info...we don't know? And we can't opt out. …
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Muse's privacy cost may extend beyond the person using it. Wired reports Meta's agent creates detailed profiles of friends and family. I'd require consent rules for people an AI system analyzes, not only its direct user.
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- 1 day quiet
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Android Authority lists security and reliability concerns with Muse
A columnist detailed why he avoids Muse, citing its need for deep system/financial access, a persistent cloud virtual machine per user, a previously patched zero-day macOS vulnerability that let malware hijack the assistant's privileges, and risk of AI hallucinations in agentic tasks.
“As much as I love AI, it's hard to trust it in its current state, and that goes double for Muse.”
— Andrew Grush -
Sure, use Meta’s Muse bot to help with your chores — if you want Mark Zuckerberg to know all your secrets https://www. latimes.com/business/story/202 6-10-02/sure-use-metas-muse-bot-to-help-with-your-chores-if-you-want-mark-zuckerberg-to-know-all-your-secrets?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Business @ business-LATimes
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- 1 day quiet
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Tuta warns users not to trust Meta with Muse's data access
Encrypted-email provider Tuta published a blog post arguing that Meta's history of profiting from user data makes it risky to grant Muse access to accounts, messages, and financial details; it also cited a user whose Facebook Marketplace listing led Muse to share his home address with a buyer.
“Okay Mark. 🤥 Muse might look like an amazing AI assistant - BUT - knowing that Meta makes huge profits off collecting your data & its history with unethical practices, can you actually trust the tech giant with access to every aspect of your digital life?”
— Tutanota -
first by Social Media Today, 9d ago · also Wired
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Okay Mark. 🤥 Muse might look like an amazing AI assistant - BUT - knowing that Meta makes huge profits off collecting your data & its history with unethical practices, can you actually trust the tech giant with access to every aspect of your digital life? We certainly wouldn't! More 👉 https:// tuta.com/blog/dont-trust-meta- muse-ai # MetaMuse #…
2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
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Sadly, an article by @ freedomofpress that does not only contain bad advice for the average person, but also dangerous advice for journalists. An organization claiming it's giving »security tips that keep you, your sources, and your devices safe« should never, ever recommend you use " # AI " agents, only cautioned by "guidelines" like »Don’t be…
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The recent release of Meta’s Muse AI agent needs far-reaching access to your data to conduct tasks on your behalf. We keep seeing stories of how that has backfired on users. Read our newsletter to learn more, and subscribe! https:// freedom.press/digisec/blog/met as-muse-ai-surprises-users-but-not-in-a-good-way/
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background
Meta launches Muse, an autonomous personal AI agent — Meta introduced Muse, described as 'The World's first personal AI agent built for everyone,' capable of sending emails, booking trips, making purchases, and signing into accounts on a user's behalf.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by HN Best, 7d ago · also HN Frontpage, Techdirt
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first by Mastodon, 8d ago · also Gizmodo
and 4 smaller pieces
What people are saying 12 voices from 3 sites · best of 44 · verbatim
- Do you trust Meta with all that data?
- What happens to the data Muse collects on people who never agreed to use it?
- Oct 6
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Using an encrypted VM is standard but the encryption is the core issue. Just plain encryption will allow them to proclaim it’s all secure/private. But that is where I don’t trust Meta. Are they using a different key for every user? They are not claiming that meta cannot and will not see the data. Can they say that the user data is not exfiltrated…
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This one is from a tweet that posted a screenshot of the transcript between their Muse agent and a plumber:Call transcript with Guerra's Plumbing, Englewood, CO at September 17, 2026, 1:32 PMRecipient: This is Robert.Muse: Hi, this is Brett calling on Ankit Gordhandas’s behalf. I'll be transcribing this call for notes. I'm looking for a quote to…
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In. Jonna Stern’s interview with Zuckerberg he talked about the security, and how they delayed it to make sure they got it right. He then went on to say there was more to do and they weren’t totally isolated yet (I can’t remember his exact wording).I felt like he was undermining his original point. They delayed to make it better, but didn’t delay…
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> Meanwhile, Wired found that Muse consistently creates detailed profiles of all your friends, family, colleagues, “collaborators,” and people you “follow.” Obviously much of that information is necessary for the agent to get to “know” you, but this being Meta, people are understandably uncomfortable with this sort of massive ramp up of data…
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> It accessed Messages without full disk access>This whole story never made sense or was substantiatedThis story makes perfect sense, and Meta has a long history of not respecting user privacy controls.> tech columnist Jason Aten said that Meta’s new general-purpose AI agent Muse sent him an unsolicited notification referencing a thread between…
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I don't think anyone is arguing it isn't one. The fact that all of these agents have provisions for keeping .env vars and credit cards out of their chain of thought and responses is evidence enough of that - they know full well the info they're handing can easily be leaked. Notably though PII is absent from that, since without that information the…
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Just remember that Meta (née Facebook) changed the entire Facebook feature set and feed style in search of greater engagement and clickbait so that you would do what was best for it rather than satisfy your preferences. And if you liked it more the old way, tough luck. Your feed is now a stream of rage-bait, half-dressed women, and engagement slop…
- Oct 4
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That theory that the CIA funded early Facebook development and implementation starts to make sense.
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Probably, it's why I like to piss in the data pool every now and then. What they're doing is simply not right and that offends both my Jewish and Chinese sensibilities.
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They still have a profile on you. Of course it's not as accurate as if you use one of their products but not using one of their products doesn't stop them from creating a detailed profile.
- Oct 3
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“One of Muse’s instructions appears to be the ability for it to create “a page for every person in the user’s life.” This hourly process involves compiling data on family, partners, friends, colleagues, “collaborators,” and people you “follow,” the instructions say.” “Muse Creates Detailed Profiles of All Your Friends and Family | WIRED” -…
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My goodness # meta # muse is a Teletubby from a # privacy hellscape. Would someone inform me? Does Meta keep profiles on non-customers? # cw https://www. wired.com/story/muse-creates-d etailed-profiles-of-all-your-friends-and-family/